Tungsten has the highest melting point among all metals at 3422°C. Tungsten carbide made by powder metallurgy delivers exceptional hardness, wear resistance and thermal stability, known as the “industrial teeth”. It cannot be easily substituted in core sectors including aerospace, national defense, precision CNC cutting, rock drilling, foundation engineering and oilfield equipment. Without tungsten carbide, modern machining, mining and military manufacturing will face severe bottlenecks.
Global exploitable tungsten ore reserves are limited and unevenly distributed. China holds the majority of global tungsten output and reserves. To preserve this finite non-renewable resource, protect the ecological environment and avoid over-exploitation, China implements rigid annual mining quota management. Two major regulatory measures are enforced to control tungsten mining, processing and export licensing. Unregulated mining is prohibited to prevent rapid depletion of tungsten deposits and deterioration of ore grade.
Other countries also treat tungsten as a critical strategic resource. The United States has almost no active commercial tungsten mines and relies heavily on imports and recycled tungsten scrap. To secure its domestic strategic mineral stockpile, the US introduced export restrictions on waste tungsten alloy, retaining recycled tungsten resources for its own industrial and defense use.
As raw material supply tightens, Japanese cemented carbide manufacturers have raised product prices continuously. Limited mine resources, coupled with scrap export bans and resource control policies worldwide, jointly push up costs for WC-Co powder, the core raw material for carbide cutting tools.
Our factory maintains stable supply under this tight global resource situation. We adopt an 18-step full-process quality control system, including spray granulation, imported pressing machines and advanced imported coating equipment. Every batch undergoes strict tests on hardness, density, metallographic structure and dimensional tolerance. We supply standard and OEM tungsten carbide products such as CNC inserts, stone cutting tips and foundation drilling picks, delivering reliable carbide solutions amid global raw material volatility.
Keywords: strategic mineral tungsten, tungsten carbide export control, tungsten mining restriction, tungsten raw material shortage
